The Silver Lining to the Government Shutdown

From the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka “stimulus”) to the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”), Dodd-Frank financial reforms to the ever-rising debt ceiling, the U.S. Congress has — in a profound word — sucked.

Don’t take my word for it. Ask ‘Merica.

Statistics have shown the popularity of Congress today ranks somewhere between Hugo Chavez and the Kardashians at nine percent. So, when Capitol Hill was shut down for more than two weeks, one can imagine those brownie points swirled even further down the toilet bowl of federal public appeal.

“Readying our systems to handle the tax season is an intricate, detailed process, and we must take the time to get it right,” said Werfel. “The adjustment to the start of the filing season provides us the necessary time to program, test and validate our systems so that we can provide a smooth filing and refund process for the nation’s taxpayers. We want the public and tax professionals to know about the delay well in advance so they can prepare for a later start of the filing season.”

The 2014 season was scheduled to start Jan. 21, now it’ll start no earlier than Jan. 28 and no later than Feb. 4. And don’t get too giddy, kids. Taxpayers will still have to bone up the cash by April 15. Essentially, the government won’t have to work until later in the year.

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